Saulieu

Baptismal font probably of the date of the original church, the late 12th or early 13th century, consisting of an octagonal basin of vertical sides with a narrow chamfered underbowl, raised on an octagonal pedestal base decorated with mouldings; there is a double groove carved all around the lower sides of the basin; at the top of the underbowl chamfer each angle is decorated with a motif or symbol, of which at least one human head, one fleur-de-lys are visible in the source material. The font design is off balance for an early font and quite possibly has been altered through its history; the base is too narrow and the wrond shape for a font of this period; it is alos likely that the basin underbowl was re-cut to fit the new base. There is much damage to the basin: the back has a wide open crack; at the front there is a part of the upper rim that has broken off, right where the hole of the old metal staple was, now showing the empty hole.